New Delhi
With its continued focus on tribals, the Centre on Wednesday listed out a slew of its initiatives for the welfare of the 10.45-crore Scheduled Tribes’ (ST) members constituting 8.6 percent of India’s population.
The BJP-led NDA Government will use the International Millet Year (IMY), 2023,India’s G-20 presidency and National Education Policy (NEP) to promote the tribal cause.
The United Nations announced 2023 as the International Millet Year (IMY) on the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Tuesday, MPs in Parliament had a Millet lunch that had delicacies like Ragi Dosa, Ragi Roti, Jowar Roti, Haldi Sabji, Bajra Churma, Bajra Kheer and Bajra Cake among others.
“Millets come from tribals. Tribal population is going to be the biggest beneficiary of this. Indian produce will get global markets. Millet year was celebrated in Parliament and a majority of it was tribal produce. Millet is being made an item during the G20 summit too. This will directly benefit tribals,” Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.
Briefing media persons, Dharmendra Pradhan pointed out how financial allocations under centrally sponsored schemes have been increased significantly, from Rs 19,437 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 91,000 crore in 2022-23.
Maintaining that the tribal community will be the major beneficiary of the emphasis of the National Education Policy on the use of mother tongue or local language as the medium, Pradhan showcased how the ascent of President Droupadi Murmu to the top constitutional post from a remote village in Odisha was due to education, India’s democracy, and the Prime Minister’s policies.
The UGC has stated that its textbooks will be in local or tribal languages, he said adding education in local languages and mother tongue is one of the key pillars of the National Education Policy, 2020.
“Education brings revolutionary changes and thus, our focus is to ensure education reaches the tribals. When their language is formalised, they will benefit from it. Every stakeholder has been involved in making textbooks. There are many reforms that are yet to happen,” he said.
The budget for Eklavya schools has increased from Rs 3,832 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 8,500 crore in 2022-23, Pradhan averred and maintained it is reflective of PM Modi’s commitment to the uplift of the tribal population.
The Minister further highlighted how the government is taking steps to enhance production and marketing of forest produce of tribal communities and engaging with e-commerce players like Amazon and Flipkart to push their sales.
“About 10 lakh tribal beneficiaries are connected with Van Dhan Vikas Kendras through 55,000 self-help groups. The objective of these centres is to ensure the availability of primary processing and value addition for forest produce, to provide employment to tribals and increase their income,” Pradhan stressed adding the government is taking steps “to increase production of their produce, improve packaging, branding, marketing.” “We are using platforms like Amazon and Flipkart also for tribal products,” he said.
He further said that a National Tribal Research Institute (NTRI) was set up to look into tribal issues at the national stage and unsung tribal heroes of freedom struggle are being highlighted.
“Tribal population has contributed to the freedom struggle immensely. From Bhagwan Birsa Munda to Laxman Naik, Nirmal Munda, Madho Singh and many more, several stalwarts contributed to the freedom struggle. Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas is being celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda. Tribal museums are being constructed all over the country,” he listed out.
While a digital tribal repository in searchable form has been developed by the government, approximately 60,000 artisans are engaged under the Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) of MSME, he noted.
In the ongoing winter session of the Parliament, the Government has already introduced or passed Constitutional amendments for according ST status to several communities.
The Government and the BJP’s focus on the tribals over the past one year paid rich dividends in Gujarat recently where it won 24 of the 27 Assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes. With Assembly polls in 2023 in over a dozen States next year and in the run-up to the 2024 General Elections, and tribals playing a key role, the BJP as also the Government are expected to continue going all out to woo the tribals.
